


Barduil Theater AU

by sailingonstardust



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Barduil - Freeform, Fluff, M/M, Theater AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-12 03:52:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3342650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailingonstardust/pseuds/sailingonstardust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bard is an usher at a theater and has been trying to work up the nerve to talk to Thranduil, a rich theatergoer, when a genderbent Gandalf takes matters into her own hands. </p><p>Prompt fill for a request by Tumblr user ugh--oakenshit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bard had a fake smile plastered on his face as he did every night. It didn’t matter how tired he was or how lonely or how sad. All that mattered was keeping up his artificial grin and taking ticket after ticket from faceless strangers, occasionally directing them to seats that were clearly marked but for some reason or another could not be located. Sometimes he was even lucky enough to have to break up an argument over which seat was whose. 

His oldest daughter, Sigrid, was constantly nagging him to get out and find someone, making the point that he had no friends and no hobbies other than archery. He would always argue that he saw his coworkers nearly every day, but they both knew that hardly counted as he often couldn’t even keep their names straight. Bard had seldom found anyone intriguing enough to get close to since his wife died four years ago, save for one Thranduil Greenleaf. The man was a regular theater goer in one of the reserved boxes where Bard was typically placed. He had striking features; high cheekbones, long blond hair, and thick dark eyebrows. Bard didn’t think he had said five words to the man in all the time he had been punching his ticket, and remedying that was something he daydreamed about frequently. Not that he would ever actually do it; he was fairly certain Thranduil wouldn’t recognize him if he were to fall in the man’s lap. Embarrassingly enough, Bard got the chance to test that theory.

He had kept the line moving along quickly; taking a ticket, checking that it was for Box F, punching it, and thanking the person for their patronage. He reached out for the next ticket and noticed the neatly typed letters next to Name: Thranduil Greenleaf. Bard looked up, thankful for the dim lighting as he took in Thranduil’s dapper appearance, a blush creeping up his face. “Good evening, sir.” he stammered, punching his ticket dutifully. Thranduil simply nodded, already moving to get to his seat.

The next individual in line was an elderly woman who held out her ticket to Bard with a shaky hand. He checked her pass seeing that it was indeed for Box F and punched it, offering her a more genuine smile than usual; probably a lingering effect of Thranduil’s presence. The woman smiled back and Bard felt that he should at least offer to help her to her section as she didn’t seem very steady on her feet. “Can I help you to your seat, Ms. Grey?” he asked, referencing the ticket for her name. The woman’s smile widened and she nodded, reaching out her hand to grab Bard’s waiting arm. 

“One moment, please.” he said to the next couple in line, leading the woman towards the rows of seats. “What is your seat number, ma’am?” he asked, and the woman stopped to check her ticket. “3G.” she replied and Bard felt himself blush again. That was the seat next to Thranduil’s. He silently berated himself for being so childish and led the woman to her spot. He helped her slide into the row and then bent to hold the seat down while she sat. He wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but somehow or another he ended up falling gracelessly into Thranduil’s lap, much to the shock of both men. 

“I’m so sorry!” Bard sputtered after realizing what had happened. He hastily made to stand but ended up tripping over the woman’s fallen purse, causing him to land on Thranduil once again.

“Allow me.” the man’s low voice sounded before Bard could make a bigger fool of himself. He was carefully helped upright by soft hands and Bard temporarily lost the use of coherent thought.

“I…” he stammered, cringing internally. “Sorry.” Thranduil just nodded, an almost imperceptible smirk on his porcelain face. They held eye contact for an inappropriate amount of time before Bard cleared his throat and turned to Ms. Grey, asking if she was alright.

“Fine, dear.” she waved her hand for emphasis. “Thank you for helping me.” Her grin was wide and Bard offered her the best smile he could muster, which wasn’t much. He made to walk away, apologizing to Thranduil once again, but was stopped by a frail hand on his arm. “You realize that was your chance, yes?” the woman asked, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. 

“I beg your pardon?” Bard questioned, confused.

“Oh, please. Anyone with eyes can see you two were meant for each other.”

Bard simply blinked at her, not sure he believed what he was hearing. Before he could say anything else the woman winked and released his arm, leaving Bard to stumble back to his post at the door. He was grateful for the two hour break he would be granted during the show; he would need it if he was ever going to sort out his thoughts and get rid of this stupid blush.


	2. Chapter 2

The time flew by entirely too quickly for Bard's liking and before he knew it he was standing back at the door to Box F without the slightest idea of what he would say to Thranduil, if anything. As the curtain fell the thunderous applause died and people began to file out in droves. He nodded to everyone as they exited the box, directing many of them to the restroom down the hall. His anxiety grew as he realized Thranduil was not among the crowd. Was he going to stay behind to talk to him? What would Bard say? He felt foolish for thinking Thranduil would want to talk as he turned around to see the blond helping Ms. Grey out of her seat. The two were the last people in the box and they approached slowly, their arms linked. 

“Thank you, dear.” Ms. Grey smiled once they reached the exit, patting Thranduil’s forearm before letting go. “I’ll be fine from here.” With a wink at Bard she left the two men to an awkward silence. The longer it dragged on, the harder it became for Bard to breathe. Finally, he worked up the nerve to speak.

“I apologize again for my clumsiness.” he said, not looking Thranduil in the eye.

“You’re not clumsy.” the man replied coolly, much to Bard’s surprise. “I believe Ms. Grey had more to do with it than she let on.”

Bard looked up and nodded. “I think so too. She kept winking at me and said...” he trailed off at that, not wanting to make Thranduil uncomfortable with the woman’s words. 

“That we’re clearly perfect for each other?” Thranduil finished, an amused glint in his grey eyes.

Bard simply blushed and nodded, reaching his hand up to rub the back of his neck.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to test that theory?” Thranduil asked nonchalantly, and Bard raised his eyebrows in surprise, his heart skipping a beat.

“I… erm… yes. That would… I would enjoy that.” Bard stammered, flinching at his awkwardness. _Real smooth._ Thranduil, however, didn’t miss a beat. He simply pulled a pen out of his suit pocket and dug around for something to write on, coming up with a gum wrapper. 

“Sorry about this…” he muttered, writing what Bard assumed was his number. “I really need to be going, but text me later and we’ll plan something.” he smiled, handing Bard the wrapper. 

“Yeah.” Bard said dumbly, smiling back at him. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

Thranduil nodded and walked off, and Bard couldn’t help but admire the way his suit fit him so perfectly… He shook himself. He had work still to do before he could daydream. With a smile he put the wrapper carefully in his pocket and went about his work, a bounce in his step. Already thoughts were running through his mind of what he would say to Thranduil when he texted him.

****

In the end he settled for a simple ‘Hey it’s Bard.’ He sat in his driveway, not wanting to go in and have his children ask who he was texting. It was only after he sent it that he worried Thranduil wouldn’t recognize his name. He wouldn’t have given him his number if he didn’t know his name though, right?

Almost immediately he got a reply back that said ‘Hey. Is any particular day best for you this week?’ 

Bard opened up the calendar app on his phone and scrolled down, noticing that his Saturday afternoon was free. He sent that to Thranduil and awaited his response anxiously. If he wasn’t free then they would have to wait until the next week to hang out and Bard _really_ didn’t want to wait that long. He got a reply back that said ‘I’m free then too. Does dinner around 6 sound good?’

Bard felt giddy and he texted back ‘Sounds great!’ After he sent it he stared at the exclamation point accusingly, wondering if it was a bit much. But when Thranduil sent back ‘Great! I’ll pick you up, but I’ll need your address.’, his worries flew away. Before he could reply another text came through that said ‘Unless you’re uncomfortable with that.’ and Bard grinned. There was something to be said about a man who texted with perfect punctuation and capitalization and made sure you weren’t uncomfortable with handing over your address. He replied with ‘I don’t mind. 2941 Laketown Drive’.

Thranduil sent back ‘Ok. I’ll see you then :)’ and Bard rolled his eyes at the way his stomach fluttered at the smiley face. Honestly, one would think he was the same age as his girl-crazy son. Bard sent one last text that consisted of only a smiley face and opened his car door, swinging his keys around his finger. When he opened the front door he was greeted to the sound of Katy Perry blasting and the sight of his children dancing around the living room. 

“Da!” Tilda shouted and ran up to hug him.

“Hi darling.” he greeted, pulling her into an embrace. Sigrid and Bain walked up to join in on the hug and Bard couldn’t help but smile at the love his family shared.

“You’re home late.” Sigrid observed, turning to shut off the radio. 

“I… had to talk to someone.” Bard replied, trying not to act as if it was any big deal. He didn’t know why, but he was reluctant to tell his children about Thranduil and their date on Friday. 

“Oh?” his daughter asked, raising an eyebrow in question. “What kind of someone?”

Bard frowned. “A nice man.” was all he said.

“What’s his name?” Sigrid continued to weasel. 

“Thranduil Greenleaf.” Before he could talk himself out of it he added “We’re going out together on Friday night.”

Sigrid’s face lit up and she exclaimed “Oh, da! That’s wonderful!”

He smiled at her enthusiasm and said “You’ll have to help me put together an outfit."

The girl nodded and held out her pinky, waiting for Bard to link it with his. Pinkie promises were something he and his oldest had been doing since the girl was just three years old, and thirteen years later it still stuck.

“Alright!” he announced after they had pinkie promised, clapping his hands for emphasis. “You all have school tomorrow, so off to bed.” That elicited a chorus of groans which he promptly shushed with the threat of brussel sprouts for dinner the next night. They went straight to their rooms after hearing that, and Bard collapsed on the sofa with a groan, falling asleep before he could so much as kick off his shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be a part three so long as people are interested. (๑❛ᴗ❛๑)


End file.
